Latter-day Saints

Latter-day Saints believe that "spirit prison" (a name based on the phrase "the spirits in prison" in the KJV translation of ) is a holding area for those who did not receive knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ while on earth, and others that were not valiant in their testimonies.

Other religious traditions

In Christianity, the more common doctrine is that after death there is no opportunity to repent.

The 1 Peter 3:19 phrase, with its reference to Christ having already visited the spirits in question, is usually interpreted in line with the image of the Harrowing of Hell.

The concept that the dead await a general resurrection and judgment either in blessed rest or in suffering, in accordance with a particular judgement already passed on each individually, was a common 1st-century Jewish belief (see Lazarus and Dives and bosom of Abraham). A similar concept is taught in the Eastern Orthodox Church, was championed by John Calvin (who vigorously opposed Luther's doctrine of soul sleep), and is reflected in some early church writers. It appears in Islam as barzakh, and also in 9th-century Zoroastrian writing (after and perhaps due to two centuries of Muslim influence and several more of Christian influence).